wfn.org | Conference explores food, faith and "new genetics"

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-55

Conference explores food, faith and "new genetics"

     (ENS) A group of some 80 geneticists, agricultural scientists, biologists, 
anthropologists, philosophers, policy-makers and theorists in environmental 
justice, development specialists, activists, theologians and ethicists met for 
three days in January at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York for 
Genetic Engineering and World Food: Framing Discussion for a Faith Audience, 
sponsored by the Episcopal Church's Working Group on Science, Technology and 
Faith 

     The January 19-21 conference was part of a series of educational events 
organized to respond to Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold's effort to make 
theological and ethical reflection on "the new genetics" a priority in his 
teaching ministry.

     The Episcopal Church has had a science and technology working group for many 
years, with a goal of enabling church leaders and "people in the pews" to bring 
their voice to important ethical questions about science and technology. In the 
last few years, the working group has taken on the responsibility for providing 
educational resources for the church at all levels and engaging in 
interdisciplinary dialogue. 

     A group of Episcopal social justice leaders proposed genetic engineering 
(GE) and food as a conference topic, to present information from different 
perspectives and start people working to develop their own viewpoints.   

     "Primers" were offered on genetic engineering, the web of life, ethics, and 
globalization at the start of the conference. Several workshops related to 
regulation, consumption, investment, and research, while others concerned current 
rhetoric about GE foods--for instance, the origin and contemporary meanings of 
the term "Luddite." Another looked into the consequences of the "green 
revolution" and the implications of its use as a metaphor in discussion of GE 
food.  Still another considered the impact of the "technological imperative"--the 
idea that whatever can be done must be done. Other workshops spotlighted the 
perspectives of environmental justice, shifts in viewpoint of different 
generations of theorists and activists, and some of the various definitions of 
"safety."

     Conference planners worked with national level associates in the 
environmental justice movement to present a workshop that could continue the 
conversation after the end of the conference. The workshop, entitled 
"Environmental Justice and Genetic Engineering of Food--the Emerging Discussion," 
included Bunyan Bryant, one of the principal African American theorists on 
environmental justice and an urban agriculture activist, and Marian Johnson-
Thompson, a  senior scientist at the National Institutes of Environmental Health 
who took part in groundbreaking GE discussions organized by the United Methodist 
Church 10 years ago.

     The sponsors, the Working Group and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 
anticipate that a CD will be available in late summer 2001 with transcripts of 
the talks, and it will also be published on an interactive web site which will 
enable users to click on sections of an outline to access video of the speaker, 
as well as click on unfamiliar words to get definitions. In addition, edited 
conference proceedings will be published in print format, and The Witness expects 
to put some papers from the conference into an upcoming issue. 

--This article is based on a report by Susan Youmans for Research News and 
Opportunities in Science and Theology.